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The Collector (2009)
The Collector is a 2009 horror film written by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton and directed by Dunstan. Larry and his wife return home to find the power is out. They discover a large box upstairs, and are horrified by its contents. They are then attacked by an unseen figure. Arkin is an ex-convict who has gone straight and become a handyman. He seems to be liked by his latest customers, the Chase family, especially their younger daughter Hannah. While working at the Chase home, Arkin notices strange insects all around the home; a spider in Hannah's room and a large wasp nest in the yard. After work, Arkin meets his wife, whose debt to several loan sharks is due by midnight. In order to protect her and their young daughter, Arkin plans a heist at the Chase home, which houses a valuable ruby. He breaks in and attempts to crack the safe, but hears another person, a large masked figure, enter and lock the door, trapping him inside. Michael, the father of the Chase family, appears, beaten and bloody, and attempts to attack Arkin with a golf club, thinking Arkin is the perpetrator. However, the club is rigged with a trap that knocks Michael out and the man drags him to the basement. Arkin attempts a 911 call, but the phone is rigged with another trap, and the windows have been boarded up and lined with razors, making escape impossible. Arkin retreats to the basement, where Michael informs him that his wife Victoria is trapped as well, his older daughter Jill is out and Hannah is hiding somewhere. He tells Arkin there's a gun in the safe, bullets in the bottom drawer, and gives him the combination. Arkin goes into the other room, a bathroom, and finds Victoria. She is gagged and has duct tape stapled to her head so she can't see. He takes the gag off and explains who he is and that he is trying to help, he then tells her that in order for him to find her she is going to have to scream so he can get back upstairs undetected. She first hesitates, but then screams and the man comes downstairs and Arkin goes up to get to the safe. Upon opening the safe, Arkin gets the gun, he also pockets the ruby. While searching for Hannah, he finds the same box from the beginning of the film. Hearing noises from it, he opens the box to find Larry, now bloody and disfigured. Larry explains to Arkin that the masked man is a "collector" of people - he only collects one person and kills everyone else, like his wife. Horrified, Arkin tries to escape, and encounters the family cat stuck in a trap. He frees it but it is killed by another trap when it tries to escape out the window. The Collector hears the commotion from upstairs and goes to check it out, but Arkin manages to hide. The Collector notices the dead cat and leaves the room before locking Larry back in the trunk. Next, Arkin goes back downstairs and discovers that the father, Michael, was brutally killed. He goes to Victoria, who was briefly tortured, and frees her from the downstairs bathtub. They head up the basement stairs to try and escape, but Victoria sees that Michael has been disemboweled, she panics and bolts straight into the Collector, who stabs her multiple times and throws her back downstairs. Arkin hides under the desk and watches as the Collector takes Victoria, who is still alive, back into the bathroom, only pausing momentarily as he frees a dying spider. Arkin heads upstairs and pulls the panels from one of the windows. Meanwhile, the Collector fills the bathtub with gasoline and sews Victoria's mouth shut. Shortly after, Jill arrives home with her boyfriend Chad. As the two prepare to have sex on the kitchen table, they notice the Collector watching them. Chad attacks him but is killed when he is pushed into a room with several bear traps. Jill is captured, but she manages to make a 911 call before being taken. Using an alarm clock as a distraction, Arkin frees Jill, but she doesn't trust him, and is quickly killed by a trap when she reaches for a pair of scissors. Arkin returns upstairs and tries to free Larry, but is unable to. Instead, he decides to flee the house, but as he is escaping, he sees Hannah in the window. He re-enters the house and prepares a trap with Hannah. However, the Collector uses Larry as a decoy and the trap kills Larry. Arkin then sends Hannah down a chute into the basement where she hides. Arkin fights the Collector and pulls off his mask before being knocked out. The Collector puts his mask back on, takes Arkin to the basement and brutally tortures him by hammering off a tooth and allowing roaches to feed on Arkin's stomach. A police officer responding to Jill's 911 call arrives but he is killed by the Collector's dog; the distraction gives Arkin time to free himself, but discovers Victoria dead and armed explosives in the basement. He prepares to leave immediately with Hannah but the Collector sees them escape outside and sends his dog after them. After killing the dog, Arkin lures the Collector into one of his own traps and flees the house with Hannah. They run into several approaching police officers, who take them into safety. A conversation between Arkin and a police officer reveals the Collector was an exterminator also working at the Chase house. The explosives promptly detonate and destroy the house. While being taken to the hospital, Arkin discovers that the ruby is still in his pocket. He begs the paramedic to call his wife but before he can, a large truck slams into the ambulance, flipping it over. The driver is revealed to be the Collector who kills the paramedic, grabs Arkin, seals him into his box and drives away. After the credits, the Collector is sitting on his box while watching film slides. A determined Arkin can be heard screaming that he will kill the Collector once he gets out. The Collector kicks the box to keep him quiet.